Comparison between Orphans and Non orphans on the dimension of Resilience

Abstract

“Children are one third of our population and all of our future” (Select Panel for the promotion of Child health, 1981). They are the most valuable natural resource available to the society in the recent times. Maintaining psychological well-being of adolescents is thus, an integral goal for the society. Social approval and support from adults, especially parents plays a crucial role in achieving this as it helps the adolescents in dealing with various adversities of life. Unfortunately, in the recent times, there has been a substantial increase in the number of children who are deprived from the care and love of their parents. Keeping this view in mind, a cross sectional study was designed to assess the resiliency of adolescents living in orphanages and adolescents living with their families. It was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference between orphans (n=30) and Non orphans (n=30) on resilience and it various dimensions. Resiliency scale for Children and Adolescents (Embury, 2006) was administered on both these groups. Results were analysed using t-ratio and findings revealed that Orphans were less resilient as compared to the Non orphans. Furthermore, they were also found to be lower on dimensions of sense of mastery, sense of relatedness and emotional reactivity than Non orphans.